Dublin's Brian Howard hungrier than ever after timely Asian escape

“I was under no illusion that it was going to be tough to get back in."

Thu, 27 Jul, 2023 - 06:50

John Fogarty

At 2022 season’s end, Brian Howard needed a breather. Involved with Dublin since he was part of an U13 development squad, the then 25-year-old had never had the opportunity to travel for more than a week or two.

And so after he helped Raheny avoid relegation from senior level at the expense of neighbours Clontarf, he and his girlfriend Emer headed to Southeast Asia either side of coming home for Christmas.

As Dublin started building to get out of Division 2 and preparing for a new championship format down the line, he was in doubt that he was taking a punt on his football career even if Dessie Farrell assured him he wouldn’t be left out in the cold.

“I was under no illusion that it was going to be tough to get back in. I didn’t play in some games I was fully fit for, that is just credit to the squad depth. When I came back, I wasn’t just handed a jersey back, I had to work for it and do stuff on my own to make sure I was in tip-top shape. It wasn’t easy, but thankfully I’m where I want to be.

“The way my career, off the field and on the field has gone, it was fairly intense. But I got an opportunity to go away and I thought it was the right time. Huge risk to take but I enjoyed it. The hunger never left but I’m hungrier more than ever now. It was a risk but management said, ‘Look, be under no illusion, when you come back in you are not going to be handed anything just off reputation.’

“Dessie understands there are opportunities out there that players don’t take and I didn’t for a number of years. I took that gamble and I just went with it and thankfully I’m back in now and playing good football.”

All the time he was in the likes of Bali and Indonesia, Howard remained in touch with the camp. Watching games live in spite of the time difference and keeping abreast of tactics and “trying to contribute wherever I could to younger lads, picking up the phone, ringing them and checking how they were getting on, stuff like that.”

Upon his return in late February, Howard was fully fit. He felt he had to be. “When you get back in you just want to put your best foot forward and you sort of owe it to the lads as well to come back in decent shape. If I came back out of shape or sort of unfit, it would have been disrespectful to the lads. I came back in and committed 100%.”

Howard doesn’t deny the hurt from losing to Kerry in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final and Mayo in the previous year’s equivalent fuelled him then as it does now. Last Sunday week, having helped see off Monaghan the evening before, he even popped into Croke Park to watch Kerry see off Derry, something he has never done.

It made for easier viewing than the 2021 and ’22 finals as he pondered what might have been. “To say it wasn’t easy is an understatement, it was actually tough to watch because I know how precious and privileged they are.

“I was fortunate enough to play in a couple but I know they don’t come around lightly and that’s why we’re thrilled to be back in the final now. When that gets taken away from you for the last two years, you want to be back in this position and then obviously you need to go out and perform.”

The charm offensive shown by Dublin in their pre-final press conference to David Clifford extends to Howard. “He’s outstanding and he’s obviously someone that we have to look out for the next day but if you put all your attention on David Clifford, then there’s the likes of Seán O’Shea, the likes of his brother, Paudie, Dara Moynihan there, they’re top-class forwards, so it’s not a one-man army up there and it’d be naive to say, ‘Just shut down Clifford and you shut down Kerry’. It’s not like that at all.

“He’s obviously an amazing player, one of the best footballers to ever play the game at such a young age but yeah, obviously you have to mark him but, the other day, (Chrissy) McKaigue didn’t do a whole lot wrong and he’s still able to clip a few points.”